


The Incredible Mockingjay # 1

by ClarkeWayne



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-19
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-27 04:50:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5034382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClarkeWayne/pseuds/ClarkeWayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Controlled by the mob and corrupted politicians Panem City finds hope in the Mockingjay, a night vigilante who brings justice upon her enemies with a rain of arrows. But she is not alone in this mission, Lionheart a newcomer hero comes to her assistance – with or without her consent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Incredible Mockingjay # 1

**Author's Note:**

> At this point people should know that I don't have a beta, well anyways, this one was mostly based on DC comics with a touch of Daredevil/Elektra to it and I might do sequel because I really like this particular universe.

“ _Stop!_ ”

She turns around her braid whipping around and her grey eyes clash with blue ones that stare her from a rooftop away. The gentle whistle of the night breeze is the only thing disrupting the eerie silence that usually precedes a showdown.

But she is not here for one, not tonight.

“What do you want now?” her voice hoarse and it takes a bit of effort to make out the words.

He starts approach the ledge edge of the building he is on, “Why did you kill those men? Why you always have to do that?” his tone is almost desperate and she wants to laugh at him, but she doesn’t because deep down she knows that he doesn’t understand, because deep down she knows that he is good.

“They were going to kill you and I hardly think that your knives would stop their bullets,” she says between gritted teeth, if it’s because of annoyance he will never know.

“I think I can take care of myself,”

She laughs, dark and sarcastic, “Yeah… I can see that,” even if he can’t see through her mask he knows that she is eyeing his forearm, which is still bleeding and he instinctively winces. Damn, his making a fool out of himself in front of her.

“Is not that bad…” and is really not, although the lack of pain is starting to worry him.

She turns around, her back to him, “Go to the Metropolitan Hospital, east wing 8B, there is someone there that can help with that, no questions asked,” and with that she tears from him and leaps out of the rooftop and before he can do anything she is already out of sight.

He huffs before deciding to not follow her, but maybe follow her advice. It takes him sometime before getting to the hospital, between making his way to his apartment to change clothes and somewhat bandage his wound and hailing a cab his pain got even worse. It’s past four in the morning, and most of the medical staff is walking around almost aimlessly except for a few people, and he easily makes his way to eight floor, block B without drawing any attention.

It’s only when he gets there that he realizes he has no idea of who to look for, he eyes every person but no one stands out so he decides to go for the counter to see if there is anyone available. He is nearly there when he senses it. He turns around fists already clenched at his sides ready for a fight.

The woman is probably around the same age as his father and her blue eyes are similar to his own and so is her ashy blonde hair, she could pass for his mother easily. It’s quite scary and for a second he thinks that this whole thing is trap.

“She said you would come, please, follow me,” her voice is cool and gentle and she barely spares him a second look before heading towards a room near the end of the hallway.

When he decides to actually heed her call he finds that she is preparing a first-aid set in a small metal tray and she looks towards the bed in front of her, with nothing to lose he goes with it.

Within minutes it’s clear that this nurse, her scrubs tell him so, is seasoned and quite experienced with this sort of injury if the expertise and deft she displays while treating his arm wound is anything to go by.

He decides to break the silence, “How do you know her?” because it’s clear that they do know each other.

She eyes him like a hawk and for the second time today he feels like he is pray under the gaze of true hunter, “You may have her compassion, but you don’t have her trust, so you better keep questions to yourself,”

 _Ouch_ , again, it’s the second time that he feels like he just been punched in the gut with simple words maybe the two women are related by blood.

She patches him up and eyes him coolly before saying, “All done, hope you be more careful in the future,” he nods and debates internally if he should thank her or maybe shake her hand, he does neither but when he is about to get of the room she speaks again, “I know that she doesn’t like people coming to her aid… However, I appreciate what you’re doing, so… thank you,” some emotion getting through her words.

He is now more than sure that they are relatives, but he can’t see any similarity aside from general stern demeanor to put the two of them together. Maybe they’re aunt and niece...?

“I won’t let her get hurt,” he says finally he leaves after receiving a small nod and a quirk of lips that resemble the ghost of a smile.

He arrives at his apartment with little problem, his forearm a bit numb, he practically slumps in the couch and turns the television on, it’s the early morning news on channel 7 which means his father is about to…

“Peeta? Are you up already?” his father approaches him in sluggish movements and ruffles his hair just like he always do when he sees his son for the first time every day.

“Yeah, couldn’t sleep,” a half-truth and Peeta became a professional at delivery those as if they were cupcakes. He rubs his injured arm and wants to face palm himself, but glad that he is wearing a long-sleeved Henley that hides the bandage.

Because of course his old man would notice, “Are you alright? I told you to not push yourself to hard yesterday,” he admonishes. He fusses at Peeta before the boy eases his worries.

“I’m okay dad, just a little sore, why don’t you make us some pancakes while I go shower before we head to work?” it does seem to abate some of his father worries and at the mention of pancakes the man smiles and heads to the kitchen with a good-humored _okay_.

It feels like a knife is being twisted in his stomach whenever he deceits his father. Makes his fear of being found out even scarier, the nightmare of his father not recognizing him as the son he thought he had.

He shakes his head before standing up to go to shower but he freezes when he sees the television flashing with the news of Mockingjay and Lionheart smiting a group of smugglers at the industrial district of Panem City.

His father comes then, wire whisk and bowl in hand, “These kids have some guts,” he says with awe in his voice and something in Peeta warms at that, “Although is kind of hard seeing these poor fellow crash and burn like that,” when Peeta turn to the screen again he can see that the amateur video recorded the moment when Mockingjay noticed that Lionheart took a slash to his arm to protect her.

One might think that a girl would be grateful, but Mockingjay is not that one and she scowls and yells at him for being reckless, you can’t really hear in the video but her words are crystal clear in Peeta’s memory.

_What the hell is wrong with you?! Do you have any idea what would happen if you died because of me?!_

If he wasn’t so taken aback at that moment by her harsh admonishment he would have answered her, that yes, he knows what is wrong with him, and that he has an idea of what would have happened if he died because of her.

 _I’m in love_ and _there would be nobody to protect you anymore._

But his answer will have to wait a little bit longer before he can voice it to her.

 

* * *

 

 

The sticks clash with force and violence, but in unequal measure and she stumbles a few steps back, snarling at her enemy,

“What were you thinking sending him there?!” she striking him two more times before twisting the stick around and assuming a defensive stance, “He had no business there, Haymitch!”

The man barely spares a glance at her before delivering a blow that sends her weapon flying out of the tatami, “You would be outdone, with no conditions of defeating that entire group by yourself,” he blinks owlish at the blue sky above them, “You should be grateful, sweetheart,”

It only takes three seconds for her to leap at him with her bare hands. Unleashing punches and kicks but even with her experience and the notion that she is not remotely able to actually get a hit on Haymitch, she still tries.

With one clear swoop of his stick he manages to hit one of her legs while the other midway through a kick, it sends her flying backwards and she lets out a muffled cry when she hits the floor.

“Arrogance… maybe it’s bleeding out of your enemies and getting on you,” he then cranes his head to look at her pointedly, “It wouldn’t be so bad if you were so arrogant to begin with,” she scowls at him and the man smirks.

He turns his head towards the entrance of the terrace and Prim appears bounding the steps that lead to the tatami area with a basket in hand, “Hey Haymitch,” she is all smiles and then looks a little worried at her sister, “Katniss,” her sister huffs and gets up glaring at her mentor.

Mentor is the word that she uses to compress sensei, coach, teacher, friend, guardian, parental figure, family.

“Everything good at school today, I assume,” Haymitch says while helping the little girl set a table cloth at the floor near the tatami, they’ve schedule this picnic weeks ago , they were celebrating Prim’s school report.

“The best!” the girl is nearly vibrating besides them, and she shuffles around until she gets her backpack of her shoulders and rummages through it and hands Haymitch a slip of paper, “Look Katniss!”

Katniss and Haymitch read the thing with utmost care, but it doesn’t hold any surprises, is a roll of straight A’s, “Good job, little duck,” she fusses her younger sister who just bounces in place.

“Good job indeed, wait here,” Haymitch makes a bee line to his duffel bag and brings a paper bag wrapped loosely in a piece of twine in a sorry excuse for a gift wrapping, but hey, it’s something alright. Katniss only got a half empty bottle of vodka in her last birthday, and she is not even allowed to drink at 19 as her mother conveniently supplied before she could even entertain the idea of making using of the gift.

She ended up giving it to Haymitch, who emptied the bottle in one go right there, promptly passing out face first in the cake. Katniss would have kicked him out because Prim and her mother were there but as soon as his head hit the plate Buttercup, Prim’s tomcat, jumped on top of the man’s head and deemed the spot as his new bed. Suffice to say that the Everdeen’s framed a picture of that moment and hanged in a prime position atop of their fireplace.

Back to Prim, the girl sat on near the basket and picked her present, a little hesitant to unwrap it, but as soon as she pulled the thread she basically tore the paper apart, “Ah!” she exclaimed a little breathlessly.

“What is it?” Katniss questioned worried already.

Prim showed her, _The Mighty Adventures of Arrow Girl and the Grey Ninja Vol. 5 (Ultimate Collector’s Edition)._ “How did you manage to get this?! You know what? I don’t care!” she leaped into Haymitch arm in a bruising hug and Katniss rolled her eyes at the man’s look of surprise, like he couldn’t believe that someone might actually like him.

“Isn’t that comic book based on… what’s her name?”

Prim nearly snapped her neck to stare at Katniss, “How can you not know Mockingjay?! Come on! You’re my sister! I have posters of her all over my all!!” it was nearly a reprimand and Katniss wanted to smile so badly.

“Maybe you had, but now I can only see Lionheart’s posters in your walls,” it wasn’t jealousy, _it wasn’t Haymitch, stop looking at me like that!_

Prim sighed, “He is so cool and dreamy,” her eyes glaze over for a second, and for a thirteen year old she was most definitively riding this crush hard, “But him and Mockingjay are meant to be, so I won’t get in the way,” she said simply. Katniss’s eyes bulge and Haymitch clears his throat, a sly smile playing on his lips.

“So let’s get this picnic starting!” he declared, hand roaming into the basket, a satisfied purr making its way out of his throat when he grabbed a bottle, “Green tea?!” he nearly shouted.

Prim eyed him with shining eyes and killer puppy eyes, “It’s good for you,” her voice small and a little broken. Katniss could see right past the whole façade but Haymitch couldn’t and he gulped before nodding at the girl and grumbling mildly before serving the three of them iced green tea. Prim was smiling triumphantly but schooled her features as soon as she noticed Katniss watching her.

To Katniss if in the event of Prim deciding to follow her steps came to happen whichever side was going against her was ruined, because the little duck had mad chops.

Assuming the mask of Lionheart wasn’t that hard, it only took Peeta the spam of five to six minutes to make his resolve. It was another ordinary day, doing ordinary chores at the bakery, living like an ordinary person, until Delly burst crying into the place startling the customers and Peeta.

She went straight to him, wrapping him in a embrace that was almost suffocating, “Delly, what happened?!” she sobbed harder. Apparently Thom heard from the kitchen because soon he appeared in the doorway looking bewildered at sight and before Peeta could say anything the girl was leaping to her boyfriend’s arms crying even harder.

“I-it was a-awful!! They c-came out of nowhere!!!” she hiccupped and Thom tried to sooth her with whispers and gentle touches.

“Who, honey? Who came out of nowhere?” he said in a mellow voice.

Delly breathed a little, a few customer sneaking glances, others looking openly at her and waiting for her words just like Peeta was.

“Snow’s lap dogs… they were down the street, I thought they were coming to the shop, and… and…” Peeta could see Thom’s eyes hardening at every word, he could feel it too, his own body went rigid at the sound of the damned man’s name.

“But what, Delly?” it was Peeta who prompted.

She looked at him, “Oh Peeta, it was… they come for Cray, he was at Ripper’s and they dragged him to the middle of the street and… right in front of everyone…”

Peeta let out a breath he didn’t knew he was holding, and immediately felt bad for it, Cray might have been a despicable human being, but human nonetheless and deserved more than an execution in front of the people he begrudgingly protected as a cop, even as dirty as he was.

His death was the fourth execution to add to Coriolanus Snow’s kill list just this month, the man was really burning though them. It was becoming a true crime show, and not only in this part of town, a great deal of Panem City was under Snow’s thumb. And if the man happened to be just a mobster then things wouldn’t be so daring, but having a mafia kingpin turn mayor made everything more unbearable.

But things were changing. Not by themselves, but by something who was tipping the scales, and this time around it was on their favor.

The Mockingjay, a masked vigilante, sans cape, who at first seemed to protect only the suburban area of Panem City. Granted that the place was practically a war zone by now, and one single person couldn’t handle the entire metropolis.

Peeta couldn’t help it, he admired her profoundly. Whoever she was, Peeta would ask her on date as soon as possible, he just needed to know who she was. The real question was: who was he kidding, in his nineteen years of existence and nine from one-sided pinning, he still hasn’t managed to get past greetings with Katniss Everdeen, and as Thom liked to say ‘you look at her like she carries the Milky Way,’

So Peeta decided to do the most obvious thing, become a hero himself and get the girl by the end of the adventure, if the adventure wasn’t the end of him that is.

Obviously that was easier said than done.

The first problem was that aside his wrestling skills, Peeta had no other physical attributes to make him a super hero like Mockingjay. The girl was fierce and deadly, in the spam of two week she managed to dismantle two cartels and take down one of the leaders of illegal operations of Snow’s inner circle, and all that armed with a bow and arrow.

Peeta cringed a little at what he saw at the newspapers at first, the headlines displaying a crazy young girl slaughtering people, but the people knew it better. Soon enough Peeta could see the changes, how some of his neighbors walked with their heads held high, not hunched and downwards like before, every once in a while he would see the bird symbol that the Mockingjay had in her pin painted on walls all over town, and most of all he saw people fighting back.

What surprised everyone at their district was that Haymitch Abernathy of all people was the first to stand against the oppression. He was drinking alone like he usually does for the past 20 years in Ripper’s bar when one of Snow’s lap dogs appeared. His name was Thread if Peeta remembers right, he usually went to the suburbs to collect ‘security fees’ also known as ‘you better pay if you want to live fees’ but what really set Haymitch off that day was…

“Get out of my way you old shit,” the man snarled as he shoved Greasy Sae from his path.

Haymitch in a display of surprisingly good reflexes sprinted from his chair to hold Greasy Sae from the imminent fall. He steadied her and turned his stormy grey eyes to focus on Thread, “You, sorry excuse for piece of human trash, apologize to her,”

Peeta wasn’t there to see it, but Darius who works as waiter/bartender to Ripper said that an actual tumbleweed rolled across the street at the time.

“What did you just said?” Thread nearly bit every word, looking murderous.

“What? Besides being stupid you are also deaf? I said apologize,” Haymitch nodded at Greasy Sae who was shaking like a leaf.

At that Thread actually growled like a feral dog, and before he could reach for his gun in the back of his jeans Haymitch had already grasped an empty bottle from his table, said bottle had the misfortune of getting shattered across Thread’s face. That not only made the bar go into a frenzy but also threw the criminal off his game and in a blink of an eye -I swear Peeta it was that fast, whatever Darius – Haymitch had Thread against the wall, the man’s arm twisted behind his back, reading to snap.

“Since you won’t apologize I might as well teach you a lesson,” Haymitch leaned on further and Thread cried out in pain, “What’s that?”

“…”

A little bit more of force and it was like a dam broke.

“I am sorry!!” the bald man yelled out.

Haymitch huffed, as if that was such an inconvenience to him, maybe it was, “Not good enough,” and with a loud crack that pulled a collective gasp from the audience at the site, Thread fell with his arm twisted and broken.

“Mother F-!!!“ before he could finish Haymitch boots connected with his face, more precisely his mouth, and what a mouthful it was, that part of the story Peeta believes, mostly because Greasy Sae managed to pick two of Thread’s teeth from the floor.

Haymitch eyed the Thread’s driver, who probably was just a poor bastard assigned to do a job by the looks of it, “You!” the driver went rigid, “Pick up this trash and return it to the sender,”

The man was looking frantic, it was a cliché really, someone ended up contracting more debts than what he could honor and in order to stay alive it became one of Snow’s pawns. “S-sir…”

“Come on boy, man up, the bastard had it coming,” and with that Haymitch paid his tab and left.

It’s was meant to be.

Not Haymitch beating the light out of Thread, but Haymitch becoming Peeta’s brand new coach. He remembers his father speaking of Haymitch being a fighter, of karate? Kung-fu? Peeta doesn’t remember that clearly.

It only takes two ‘no’s, a ‘get the hell out of my sight’ and a ‘don’t you have nothing better to do?’ to make Haymitch to crumble.

“Fine, you little…” he eyes Peeta somewhat appraisingly, or at least that how Peeta hopes, after all that badgering is quite possible that the man is plotting his death.

In the end is not Peeta’s actual death, but it gets quite close.

Turns out that Haymitch is a black belt with a jyu dan level in karate, also a black belt and master of kung-fu – no Peeta, I don’t use the drunkard style - and is quite proficient with an array of weapon. Peeta knows better than to ask outright, because he knows that there is a story there, a sad, depressing, overwhelming story that Haymitch clearly doesn’t want to share with him, yet.

But since Peeta said that he wanted to learn how to fight because he was inspired by the Mockingjay and Haymitch looked at him like he was a puzzle that he finally managed to solve, the man huffed and accepted Peeta as an apprentice.

It was quite the struggle at first, to hide the bruises from his dad, and keep working at bakery with the urge to just fall to the ground and rest. But with determination and a very unusual schedule from Haymitch’s part he was getting the hang of things. Maybe he could pull this off, maybe he could be more. And not just for a girl or a city, more for himself.

It’s been ten minutes and something was off. No alarms, no guards, no dogs, nothing but an eerie silence that was making Katniss tense and putting her on edge. It wasn’t her first time in the Crane mansion, but it was the first time that things were just… easy.

Seneca Crane’s office was there, mountains of paper laying teasingly bare for her to take a peek. A taunt, clear as rain, and before she could ready her arrow she was shoved aside, hitting bookshelf.

The click of the gun stopped her.

“Well, well, well… I was hopping a more curious girl, but I guess birds don’t die of curiosity like cats, right?” the girl that was eyeing her had a mask, it reminded Katniss of some sort of bug, as well as the girl attire. “What do you think? I look great in leather don’t I?” the girl gave a shrill laugh that told pretty much what Katniss needed to know.

A stupid girl with a gun.

Stupid people were much more dangerous than the smart ones.

“Let me guess, Seneca hired you to finish me off, and what? Play the villain?”

The girl huffed, “I will be the hero here, you are just this imbecile who started to murder the Panem citizens who are trying to make this city better,” Katniss eyed the gun, the lock was on, stupid.

The girl whipped her blonde ponytail that also confirmed another suspicion, rich girl, probably daughter of some of Panem most treasured benefactors who instead of taking care of their daughter were sipping cocktails in St. Barts.

No matter, Katniss will teach this girl a lesson that money could never buy.

In flash Katniss crouched and swept the girl who went down sideways letting out a yelp, the moment she pulled the trigger and noticed that the gun was locked was missed to Katniss who was yanking the girl by her hair.

The gun fell from her hand. Stupid silly girl, Katniss mused darkly and the girl was being thrown over the table where she intended to take a hit on the Mockingjay. It only took a few jabs and one uppercut to knockout the girl who barely managed to scratch at Katniss. What a letdown, what were these people thinking? Sending such a girl no older than Katniss with clearly no training to stop her? It was almost insulting.

But rule number one:  never underestimate your opponent.

The moment Katniss decided to leave the place, deeming her trip a complete waste of time, she was surprised, but not by the ladybug, but by a sudden impact that send her tumbling down the stairs of the manor midway through her escape.

It took a few seconds to Katniss see her new assailant, _and now they were talking._ He was huge, muscles everywhere, probably 6’2” and eyes looking murderous, instead of intricate mask a black sock with hole but no weapons, at least that Katniss could see.

“I knew Glimmer, wouldn’t be able to do it, stupid bitch,” the boy mumbled. Boy, because despite the body and demeanor his voice betrayed the whole thing. It’s a thin, as if yet to develop further or maybe it was the steroids, hard to tell these days.

With a back flip Katniss was back on her feet, arrow ready and flying and slashing the boy the right arm. If anything, that was his strongest weapon and Katniss was sure to get rid of it.

He snarled, “You c-!” as Haymitch always says, ‘Never let them finish a line,’ and a solid roundhouse kick landed on the boy’s face. What usually got a knock down only made him stumble, but it was enough to let an opening for Katniss to punch him in the sack making him groan and fall to the ground. She punched him in the face for good measured.

Ruler number two: never, ever, underestimate your opponent.

A black SUV was parked right at the door, a couple of bodyguards waiting by it’s side, their eyes widened when they say the Mockingjay appearing, they clearly weren’t expecting her. Before anyone could utter a word, Katniss shot at them, she missed but managed to nick the woman in the face making her fall to the ground screaming bloody murder.

The man however wasn’t abated and charged towards Katniss, gun ready and in hand, this time the enemy knew what he was doing. Katniss tried to dodge but the man managed to get a hold of her shoulder making her lose her balance, that one second was enough for him to tackle her with his massive body, sending her into the grovel of the driving way .

“Your little play time ends now,” the bad guys had the worst lines.

Katniss gritted her teeth waiting for it, but a cry and a sudden movement on the periphery of her vision made her head turn.

He was wearing what was almost a military black uniform of some kind, but with accents of gold and little details in muted orange, his back to his and all Katniss could see was ashy blonde hair. In his hand a blade so sharp that could slice a watermelon as if it were butter.

Said blade had just slashed her assailant in the arm.

The man was still screaming and before Katniss could react her rescuer was propelling her up, “Come on, we have to move, now!” he started running  and soon Katniss fell into step with him, almost on instinct, as if her body knew that she was to follow him. Her rational side was screaming ‘What the hell are you doing?!’ it sounded a lot like Haymitch.

They climbed the wall of the manor and Katniss could see that the lights were coming alive at the place. It was all a trap, they knew she was going there tonight to seek information…

She had more pressing matters though.

Katniss whirled at the boy, “Who are you?” he hand twitched with the desire to pull an arrow from her quiver but she reigned her instinct, he had saved her. Not that she needed his help.

The boy, who had the same height as her, smiled at her, it was oddly unnerving, “I’m Lionheart, here to help,” he saluted her. _Saluted_.

Katniss held back a groan, “I don’t know what are think or what you’re trying to do, but you definitely do not want to do this,” she tried to come out as concerned, it sounded a lot like annoyed though, “It’s dangerous,”

His face was unmoved “I know that,” he twirled the blade he had used previously.

The girl huffed, “Look, you clearly know how to handle yourself, but don’t think that you are cut for this job, why don’t you go back to mommy and daddy and find somewhere else to play with your toys?”

At that the boy did scowl, she wasn’t aiming for nice anyway, because honestly she wasn’t, but in the end it was for the greater good, she rather have this young man safe and sound at home than ending up with his blood on her hands.

“I’m not toying around,” his stern look send shivers down her spine, it was impressive how he turned from nice a nice ball of sunshine to menacing hero, “And if I remember correctly, I did just saved you,”

His words carried a clear message ‘you own me one’ and Katniss gritted her teeth.

“Don’t think for a second that I needed your help, I’m not some helpless damsel in distress,” she growled and he smiled at her again in an almost condescending way.

“I know that, I’m not an idiot despite what you think, I just wanted to help,” he said and she was surprised by his candor, “There is nothing wrong with getting a little bit of help,”

The phrase struck a chord inside her and something rumbled within Katniss, she had heard the exactly same thing before, she just couldn’t pinpoint where and from whom.

Sirens could be heard not far from them. Apparently the police was on their way to try capture her again, it was such a bother to have Captain Boggs on her heels all the time. He wasn’t bad per say, but the mayor made the capture of the Mockingjay a priority to the PNPD – Panem Police Department.

It was clear that Lionheart was inexperienced with the whole vigilante attitude, because as soon as the sirens blared from afar he whirled in their direction staring at them with a confused look.

“You better not be here when they arrive,” she said making him turn to her with a puzzled look, “They only follow orders, and might as well become their new sidequest,” then she proceeded to sprint the opposite way from the oncoming vehicles. It doesn’t surprise as much as it annoys her to have Lionheart following her.

They make to the edge of the commercial district that connects the area with wealthy mansions to the rest of the city. When the reach the first tall building the sirens are not only louder but more insistent, indicating that they are closer and in bigger numbers by now.

Katniss pulls her… “Is that a grappling hook?” Lionheart asks, she eyes him exasperatedly, “Maybe I should have one too…” he says dejectedly.

She shoots the arrow with the hook attached to it and hits the ledge, with a huff she extends a hand to him, “Hold my waist,” he looks startled at her, but she is not looking at him. She conveys her annoyance with a shake of hand and he gets with the program, she pulls him and soon enough he is holding her with a solid grip.

Trying to not think about his proximity, she yanks the arrow, the retractable cord pulling them to the hook lodged in the ledge. Both manage to get on the rooftop easily, she retrieves her hook and resumes running, this time jumping through the rooftops like she is in her very own habitat. Lionheart doesn’t share the same ease, and stumbles and hesitates at times, but he does manage to keep up with her.

When they reach the western residential area of town she finally speaks, “This is where we split,” he nods dumbly at her, looking almost a lost puppy.

He shuffles at his feet, looking anywhere but her, he mouth opens and close several times and Katniss finally takes pity on him.

“Thank you,” he looks at her mouth a bit agape, “For earlier, I do own you one,” he smiles slyly in a manner that reminds her of Haymitch and she realizes that all the lost and confused thing was just to get to her. She scowls at him.

“You’re welcomed, Mockingjay,” his voice filled with glee, like he just won the lottery, “I’ll see around?”

She glares at him and looks over his shoulders when red and blue lights appear on the horizon, he turn to muttering damn before turning back to her.

But of course, she is not there anymore.

Peeta doesn’t know how he feels about it. The killing that is. He hasn’t killed anyone since he assumed the mantle of Lionheart, but more and more things were getting dire, because she refused to back down, and while he loved that about her it did put her in more danger, her enemies getting stronger, more vicious and outright insane. In the previous night they’d had joined forces to takedown what could only had been a former sumo wrestler that for some reason they couldn’t grasp was working for Snow.

After what felt like eternity the Mockingjay and Lionheart managed to defeat the enormous man, but it did demanded some effort and they didn’t came out of it unscarred. Peeta had bruises all over his ribs and his arm felt like it was going to explode with the swelling. The Mockingjay got a nasty cut on her forearm and a split lip, but otherwise fine, Peeta made sure that he took the heat for the most part.

He wasn’t bothered by the cuts and bruises, he was trained for that. What he wasn’t trained for was for the heavy lifting at the bakery the next day. He has just managed to throw a hundred pound sack of flour over his head and into the bed of their truck when he sees her at the entrance of the alley.

Beautiful as always, grey eyes, olive skin, dark hair with it ever perpetual braided style. Katniss Everdeen is always a sight, even on a bad day, and how does Peeta know she is having a bad day? The medium size paper bag filled with cheese buns was a given.

“Katniss, hi,” it comes out a bit breathlessly and maybe his mind is playing tricks with him but he thinks she is wearing make-up. Katniss never wears make-up and he finds somehow hard to think that she is going to start on a weekday at seven in the morning.

She nods to him, a cute natural blush making it’s way to her cheeks, “Hey,” and with that she is gone.

Not a surprise really, she never talks. Their last true conversation was when she stopped by to buy her little sister a birthday cake, and that pretty much resumed in her asking how much was a decorated cake and if they had any festive boxes for it. Still, Peeta considered it a nice step towards a nice friendship, a baby step, but one nonetheless.

Katniss wasn’t always closed off. She was never a ball of sunshine like her younger sister, but since their father’s departure Peeta notice how much she kept to herself, she never initiated a conversation either in the neighborhood or at school. Her only friends were Madge Undersee, daughter of the former mayor of Panem City who moved with his family to Italy once his term of office ended, and Gale Hawthorne.

Gale was for most part of his life deemed as Katniss’ cousin, much to their chagrin, but he was only her next-door neighbor and after sometime the general consensus was that they were bound to become a couple. Peeta always felt somewhat distressed about that, not really knowing what to do and how to proceed, especially considering that he never made a move on Katniss, because he knew that she wasn’t like the other girls, she would never be swooned with flowers or candies, but with chivalry and camaraderie, both things which Gale supplied plenty to her.

But then things never did take off for them and after a few crashes and burns from Gale’s part, Peeta knew that Katniss didn’t saw him under the romantic light. It wasn’t much of a heart break for the other boy. Even before trying to date Katniss he’d quite a holdover of suitors more than willingly to mend his poor rejected heart and then he moved to college.

That was another touchy subject for Peeta, college. He knew how much his father wanted to give him the opportunity, how he was more than prepared to go into debt just to give Peeta a chance to study art as he always wanted. But with the divorce, and alimony for his two brothers and mother that his father had to honor Peeta knew that there was no way his father could afford sending him away. Not only it would be an extra cost but the bakery would lose a pair of working arms, a pair that was responsible for frosted cakes that were one of the best sellers of their store.

All in all it would be a catastrophe for his old man, and he couldn’t let that happen, so he resigned himself with a future in his little bakery in the outskirts of the merchant area of town by day and vigilante routine by night.

Being Lionheart had as many cons as it had pros, financially speaking it was a very good way of starving since no one wants to sign your paycheck, because apparently trying to save the city from total annihilation does not qualify as real job. But with time he dedicated to that life soon the recognition came along.

After three months active Lionheart had become one of the most well-known figures of Panem City, it had mostly to do with the fact that Peeta was good with words. His charisma allowed him to build a bridge towards the civilians with more ease than the Mockingjay, who by contrast barely managed to look at the cameras without scowling.

More often than not Peeta would be greeted by Haymitch waving a piece of newspaper that was showering good graces at Lionheart. Peeta was perhaps the second most popular hero of Panem City, second because he was still leagues away from Triton, one of the veteran vigilantes, Peeta didn’t really knew him but he knew that Triton used a trident as weapon and tended to work around the docks.

Triton was the most notorious of all vigilantes of Panem – not the most extensive list since the job entailed a lot more risk than others and had sky-high firing rate – he was probably the only one with actual money to have nice things, which included a pretty expensive looking speedboat and skin-clad unitard made of waterproof material.

This time around the headlines were about him and the Mockingjay in another piece that theorizes about their romantic involvement, _if only_ , Peeta thinks sourly.

“What does it say this time? That we are engaged? Maybe we’re pregnant and she is considering maternity leave?” Peeta says as way of greeting, not in a mood to talk about Mockingjay, his brief interaction with Katniss reminding how utterly single he is and probably will remain for the foreseeable future.

“None of the above, just that you two are probably are one item, which is kind of true by the way,” at Peeta’s exasperated look the older man elaborates, “You two are more of a dynamic due than a solo act now, you rather fight along with her than protects her, thankfully,”

“Thankfully? One of my purposes is to protect her!”

“Maybe, but she doesn’t like that, it’s was a question of time before she got tired of your savior complex and decided to be done with you too,” he pauses looking back at their photo on the paper, “But with you two working together it seems that your alliance is quite strong, you two are ruffling some feathers, I ought to arrange a meeting with the two of you before things get to serious,”

Peeta is only mildly worried when he says that.

Katniss is beyond worried when he says that.

Because whenever Haymitch says he will do something is more likely that the universe will conspire for it to happen, and it does happen. They are making rounds around the Electric Town, the third most important district of Panem City, where a gang of robbers is attacking ATMs during the night.

It was almost dawn and both Mockingjay and Lionheart were about to call it a day when it happened. An explosion came from two blocks away from their spot and soon they were landing on the site. It was probably a dozen armed man and four escape cars.

Their enemies were a little too trigger-happy and shots were being fire before questions, clearly they were their own unity, not related to any mob or criminal society, which made things a little more dangerous, because an enemy without a cause is good just as a ticking bomb.

So that’s why, by the very end with only Mockingjay, Lionheart and three members of the gang left standing, is not so surprising when a grenade fall close to the pair of heroes.

They manage to take cover just in time, but after Mockingjay finishes handling the remaining criminals she hears a grunt and suddenly Lionheart is falling. She dashes to get a hold of him, hands searching for an injuring and finding immediately the piece of shrapnel lodged in one of his legs.

She wants to vomit, because she is awful with injures. A twist of fate really, since her mother is a nurse, but she just can’t help herself when it comes to these things. However she steels herself takes a look at the injury, notices how the boy is sweating, teeth gritting when she touches his leg gently.

“We need to take you to the hospital,” she says dumbly, but right then the sound of oncoming sirens blares in the distance.

“I don’t think we have time for that,” he mumbles raggedly and she starts to worry because she notices the pool of blood forming underneath his legs and it looks bad, _really_ bad.

She hauls him up and half drags, half carries him to an alley not far from there. In the end she manages to call a favor. Triton appears in a sleek car not two minutes after she calls and he looks smug as ever.

“Nice to see you out and about, Mockingjay,” he says as soon as she helps Lionheart to settle on the back seat, she managed to wrap his leg in a simple bandage, her mother always makes sure she is carrying one, but the bleeding hasn’t stopped, “and Lionheart… he is not looking so good,”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” Lionheart says with a lightness in his voice that none of them is sure if it’s due the blood loss or genuine amusement, “You know each other,” is not much of a question as is a statement.

“You could say that,” the girl says.

“Oh, we know each other, just fine,” Triton says, smirk in face and resumes driving after getting a loud smack in the arm, “Where to?”

“Haymitch’s!” Lionheart seems to freeze at that but Triton and Mockingjay don’t notice. Katniss tries to keep Lionheart talking but it gets harder and harder by the second and she starts to freak out a little, “Hey! Hey, stay awake okay, I need you to stay with me,”

He smiles at her, “Always,” he whispers.

“Oh no…” she is shaking, she can feel it and Triton is starting to get concerned too, “Finnick hurry!”

“I’m almost there!” he nearly shouts, mostly because she just said his real name and the whole situation is getting out of control, “You know, most girl would kill to get hangout with me, but didn’t need to go all for it,”

“Finnick I swear…”

“Right, right, almost there,” he is driving in a hallucinating speed and they probably break two dozens of traffic regulations. Lionheart passes out when they stop the car in front of Haymitch’s academy and that almost has Katniss screaming for some reason.

The garage door opens and Finnick all but barges in with his car. He helps Katniss to get the injured boy out the vehicle and they are greeted with an angered Haymitch that turns pale as soon as he sees Lionheart unconscious in their arms.

Haymitch ushers them inside and Katniss doesn’t hesitate to lead them to the small guest room, bed always prepared for her. They drop Lionheart gently in the bed and the boy is grunting in pain even in his senseless state.

“I already called your mother, she should be here any minute, come help prepare some things, Finnick get this boy of his clothes before Everdeen arrives here,” Haymitch commands.

“No,” Katniss says, “Finnick go help Haymitch,” she doesn’t know why, but the idea of anyone else touching Lionheart irks her and it must show, because neither Haymitch nor Finnick oppose to her demand.

When she finds herself alone with the boy she can help but to run a hand though his soft blonde hair, her fingertips grazing the edge of his mask that hides his face, she dreads the idea of having her identity compromised but not knowing who is her partner – because that’s what Lionheart is, she can’t deny anymore – is even worse, not being able to put a name on her savior and personal guardian, so her curiosity doesn’t stop her from pulling the mask out of his face.

It falls from her hand when it registers in her mind.

Lionheart is Peeta Mellark.

 

* * *

 

 

He wakes up in stages. First he notices how the ceiling has an awful seepage in one corner, second he looks at the window, cloudy morning skies with a few thunders in the distance, third and most important the throbbing pain in his leg.

He can keep the grunts while trying to sit on the bed he is currently in. He stops when he senses a presence.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” _Mockingjay_ , “You need to rest,”

His hand come up to his face and he panics, no mask, she knows who he is.

“Yeah, that… surprised me, but I needed to know, sorry,” she is standing in a shadowed corner of the room, far from him.

His blood boils in anger, towards her this time which is a first, “It wasn’t your choice,” he says though gritted teeth.

“It wasn’t, but as I said, I needed to know so I can stop calling you by some dumb alias,” her voice clear and filled with something that Peeta can’t quite pinpoint, “So I can start calling your name when I need to, when I feel like it, because we trust each other,”

That takes him aback, “You trust me?” his anger dying down almost immediately and he hates that she has this sort of effect on him, she makes a humming sound, “And why should I trust you,”

She steps out of the shadows and he can’t suppress the gasp that comes out, “Because I don’t show my face to just anyone,”

“Katniss…?” he says dumbly, staring at her as if she had grown a second head right in front of him, “How…”

“Haymitch, apparently he trains the both of us, he just chose to never mention it,” she says and he can feel the bitterness in her tone, but is too flabbergasted to dwell on that, “He wanted us to act as a team the moment you come looking for him,”

“So… was this all a plan? Our pair up?” he can’t help but question everyone’s motivations the moment he decided to assume the mantle of Lionheart.

“His at least, I won’t lie, you were a pain in the ass,” she says bluntly and he winces, “It’s true, with the whole bodyguard thing going on, but… you did saved more times that I can count, and after a while…” she trails off and Peeta can’t help it.

“After a while…” he echoes encouraging her to continue, he needs her to.

“We were a team, the two of us, I simply couldn’t think of a simple stake-out without you by my side,” she takes a sit beside him and suddenly Peeta thinks that she was by his side the entire time, “I was,” _oh_ , he said that aloud.

Rain starts to fall, and as if the sound of it snaps something in him, the pain returning full force.

“Do you need something? My mother could give you some morphine if you want to,” she says a little frantic.

“Don’t worry, I think just some pain-killers would do the trick,” he nods towards the pill pack on top of the nightstand beside him. She helps him sit up better and gives him a pill along with a cup of water, “Thanks… your mother hum?”

“The nurse that helped you at the hospital…” she says somewhat timidly.

“Ah, I knew that the two of you ought to be related,” that particular piece of the puzzle that is Katniss Everdeen finally falling in place, “But how come I’ve never seen her around the neighborhood before?”

“She lives with my sister in an apartment near the docks, but I could never leave the place where I grew up, she doesn’t like there so she moved,” it’s a simple explanation, but Peeta can see that it so much more deep than that.

“Well, I’m glad you decided to stay here,” she looks at him with worry then, something must be showing on his face, “I don’t like the idea of you living far away from me,”

“Peeta…” she places a hand in his forehead, “You’re burning up, wait here-“ he grabs her hand when she start to rise.

“I don’t want you to go,” he says a little desperately.

Katniss gives him a tight smile, “Okay… I’ll stay…” she helps him to lie down and starts to run a hand though his hair and Peeta finds the motion strangely familiar.

He is asleep in minutes.

 

* * *

 

 

“Is just a fever, the wound shown an early stage of infection when I got here, but he is fine,” her mother says in her clinical tone, the very one she gives Katniss whenever the girl shows up injured at the hospital, “If he needs more anesthetics I can prescribe some,” Katniss nods at her and they both share a loaded look.

“Bruh, such a warm mother and daughter talk,” Haymitch mutters from his spot on the armchair he is resting.

“Well, I’ll talk to you later,” she says to Katniss, “Haymitch,” she barely spares time to look at him before she is leaving, the front door closing with a quiet click.

“Damn Everdeen, I’ll bet that you got your hotness from your dad, cause your mom is one hell of an ice queen,” Finnick kind of jokes, he is leaning in the doorway that leads to the kitchen, both Katniss and Haymitch look at him wearing deadpan looks, “What? I taught it was funny… and real,”

“We have issues,” is Katniss only explanation, “Now you,” she points to Haymitch, “Start talking,”

He chuckles at that, “Who do you think you’re talking to, sweetheart?” he starts to get up but a knife is thrown at him, it misses his head by a few inches and Katniss pulls another one from her back pocket.

“Next one will hit your square in the eye, you lying bastard,” both Haymitch and Finnick tense at her tone, she is telling the truth, “Start talking,”

He huffs before relaxing, not bothering with the knife next to his face, “He came to me a couple of months after you started doing your thing,” he makes a motion with his hand to indicate her ‘whole thing’, “But his goal was different, he wanted to protect you from the get go, or at least that’s what it felt like, I wasn’t that surprised, especially considering that the boy carries a torch for you for ages now,”

Katniss sputters at that and Finnick smirks, “Don’t joke,” she warns.

“The only joke here is you, who is stupid enough to not notice how he looks at you,” he says angrily. Finnick is watching everything with clear interest, the dichotomy between Katniss and Haymitch is way different from his with Maggs.

“Whatever, you should have told me, he could have died out there,” she says hotly, ready for a fight.

“You too, the difference between us, is that I care about what happens to you,” Haymitch does stand up from his chair, “And I also care about what happens to him, so quit telling me what to do, especially when I have your best interest in mind,”

“I don’t need you looking out for me,”

“Keep repeating that to yourself sweetheart, one day you might actually believe in that,” he walks towards the guest room, probably to take a look at Peeta and the room grows quietly.

Finnick watches Katniss’s face morph from anger, to confusion, to worry, until stops somewhere between resignation and intent, “You alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine…” she eyes him, “I owe you one,”

“Yeah, you do,” he smiles at her and stretched lazily before taking a looking at his cellphone, “It’s time for me to go,”

She looks at the window and frowns at the weather.

“I’ll be fine,” she turns to him and throws her _I don’t really care about you_ face at him, he rolls his eyes, “I’ll see you around,” he stops at the front door, “Hey Katniss… I’m glad that I saved him, I like him,”

“You don’t know him, Finnick,” she points out.

“Yeah, but you like him, so I like him too,” he smiles and she can help but smile back at him, “See ya later,” and with that he leaves her to her own thoughts.

She keeps staring at the window, looking at the desolating scenery of their little neighborhood under the rain and spots a familiar figure under an umbrella and is Mr. Mellark marking his way towards the gym. She is not surprised when the bell rings, Haymitch coming out of the guest room to open the door for the man.

Mr. Mellark look a smashed but still smiles when sees Katniss, she is not sure what Haymitch told him yet, but she thinks that soon enough the man won’t be smiling that much more at her. Haymitch greets him and leads him to where Peeta is, but returns to the living room and stands close to Katniss.

“He deserved to know,” his voice a little contrite and Katniss can remember clearly how awful it had been when her mother discovered her secret. It was the first time she got shot, at the shoulder, sufficed to say that it wasn’t pleasant conversation.

Haymitch decided to take her to eat something while the Mellarks talk, and they only return from Greasy Sae’s restaurant hours later. They find Mr. Mellark and Peeta sitting in the kitchen, freshly baked bread in front of them.

“Sorry to use your kitchen without warning, but you didn’t had anything to eat,” Mr. Mellark says but Katniss’ eyes stay locked on Peeta. He looks good, for the most part, she can see that he is breathing a bit harder than usual but aside from that he seems good, maybe a bit closed off but that was to be expected.

“That’s fine, how you holding up Peeta?” Haymitch asks and Peeta narrows his eyes at their mentor.

“It’s fine, but I think I’ll be out of commission for a while,” he looks to his father who nods subtly, “Is that take-out?”

Katniss startles for a second, placing the bag she was carrying on top of the counter, “Yeah, Haymitch never has any food here, so I thought…”

Mr. Mellark hums, “I think some meat will go well with the bread, you need substance,” he gives Peeta a look but turns quickly to Katniss, “The both of you,”

Katniss blushes a bit but sits beside Peeta, Haymitch across from her. They eat their food while discussing how things are going to work from now on.

Mr. Mellark is surprisingly okay with Peeta’s new line of occupation, although he shows some reservations that make Peeta squirm in his seat. They decide that both the Mockingjay and Lionheart work better as a team and while he is recovering she ought to stand by. Katniss objects, but it’s a weak attempt, she rather cares after Peeta for the time being than to go solo.

They also discuss a new training regimen, one focused on them working as a pair unit instead of two stand-alone combatants. Katniss comes forth with information about Triton, Finnick Odair’s alias, while Peeta offers information about Poison Axe, a somewhat reluctant anti-hero who became friends with Lionheart after he rescued her from one of Snow’s extermination squads.

Poison Axe and Mockingjay have clashed before, the older girl was robbing a bank when Katniss intercepted her. Things took a turn for the uglier quite fast and during their altercation Axe was quite open about her personal distaste for Mockingjay.

So it’s was clear that that was the only reason Katniss didn’t liked Peeta’s friendship with her, “Is not a friendship, we just help each other out from time to time,”

“Have you _helped_ her since we started working together?” Katniss nearly seethes, and both Haymitch and Mr. Mellark snort. Peeta looks bemused with her and Katniss _hates_ the look on his face.

“No, I haven’t,” he smiles at her and she wants to punch him for no reason.

It takes nearly two weeks for Peeta to get an okay from Mrs. Everdeen about his leg, while they waited for his full recovery him and Katniss decided to strike up a real friendship. It was easy and complicated altogether.

Mostly because Katniss didn’t knew how to get along with people, but she liked to have Peeta around too, which was surprisingly to say the least, “You don’t like anybody,” Prim had said the day she met Peeta.

They were training on the gym when Prim appeared looking surprised to see Katniss sparing with someone other than Haymitch. She recognized Peeta from the bakery – she adored their cupcakes – and he was glad to finally meet her.

When Katniss noticed her little sister’s blush when Peeta shook her hand she knew that Peeta had just gained a new admirer. Not that surprisingly considering the way Prim adored Lionheart, Katniss found her sister’s infatuation with Peeta adorable.

“I like people, I like you,” Katniss had retorted at the time.

“Please, everyone likes me,” Prim had said simply, another display of how dangerously cute she could be, “But you never _like_ anyone, and you _like_ him,”

“Stop saying like that, it's weird, little duck,” it was a lame comeback and they both knew it. Did Katniss liked Peeta that way? It would be terrible if she did, another person she needed to protect, to look out for, another weak spot to guard…

She look at him training with a staff with Haymitch, the way he moved with firmness, his muscles straining under the effort, his ashy blonde hair shining with sweat.

 _Damn_ … she liked him….


End file.
